
In the year that’s passed since we launched this little blog, we’ve been amazed at the growth in readership. In 12 months or so, this blog has earned hundreds of thousands page views (and that continues to grow). A huge “thank you” is in order for reading, engaging, sharing and otherwise, spending a few moments of your day with us.
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Most Read (Jan. & Feb.) On the Business of Law Blog
We didn’t publish a “most read” post in January, so here’s a look at the top 10 posts for the past two months – plus a list of the hottest links for lawyers on social media.
10. 3 Outcomes of Improving Legal Department Operations. This was the second in a two-part series – the first one lays out the three levers corporate counsel can pull when seeking to drive legal department efficiency, and this one shows three different outcomes in three different corporations and in three different industries.
9. Trends, Spends and Clouds: 3 Takeaways from LegalTech Bloggers. Industry expertsweigh in on the economic prospects for the industry, big data and the law cloud. This session and other sessions are available on SoundCloud which is mobile friendly – listen on the go!
8. Friday Share: Six Legal Trends in 20 Minutes. Grab a coffee and a donut (or an apple) for a 20 minute break – and watch our own Kris Satkunas break down the data from the most recent CounselLink Enterprise Legal Management report.
7. Why Being Brutal is Best: A Solo Attorney on Efficiency. Attorney Cheryl Clayton doesn’t pull punches. She’s all business and for good reason. As she puts it, “the difference between just being efficient and being brutally efficient comes down to understanding that time is money, especially when you’re running a small law firm.”The blog post is a quick read and her more in-depth case study and other practice management case studies are published online.
6. LexisNexis Adds New Software Execs in Raleigh; Seeks Two More. There are still dozens and dozens of jobs open in the LexisNexis software division in Raleigh and even a few in Dayton. This division is now responsible for the business of law tools (i.e. the CounselLink®, PCLaw® and LexisNexis Firm Manager®), litigation solutions (i.e LAW PreDiscovery®, Concordance®, CaseMap®) and data hosting and managed technology services. If you’re interested, there’s a great presentation that lays this all out here: 5 Key Trends in Legal Software.
5. How Buyers Seek Out Small Law Firms and Determine Expertise. Everyone would like to earn more business and Hinge Marketing analyzes survey data that walks law firm marketing through how consumers choose a legal provider.
4. Five Things Corporate Legal Execs are Seeking in Data Security. A working group of legal professionals identified five areas that would enable to enhance data security and information governance. Proposals include “a common language that supports collaboration between corporations, law firms and third-party legal vendors.”
3. Five Essential Practice Management Reports for Small Law. About 72% of small law firms have already invested in practice management tools, but aren’t using the features for more effective billing and invoicing. Here are the 5 reports every law firm should run.
2. 10 Can’t Miss Events at LegalTech 2015 #LTNY. LegalTech NY is a bevy of information and we hosted a few of our own sessions which were well attended. The Beer Lawyer made a debut, at least online if not for in person, given the weather delays getting to The Big Apple. The LexisNexis software division also rolled out a wide range of updates to its software products including customization features in the CaseMap 11 solution.
1. Law Firm Bill Rates Rising? Update on Key Legal Spend Metrics. Law firm billing rates are rising and faster in some geographic regions than others. The analysis based on $17 billion in legal invoices also finds the trend of corporate counsel consolidating law firms continues.
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10 Hot Legal Links on Social Media
In terms of hot legal links, here’s what’s hot and what’s not on social media. Those articles listed below were the most read by a measure of clicks, over the course of the last 30 days.
10. The College of Law | How Technology is Affecting Paralegals
…paralegals contribute to the profession in ways that cannot be overlooked. However, due to the advancement of information technology, the future of paralegals is being challenged.
9. Law Practice Advisor | Referrals and the Doctrine of Reciprocity
Most lawyers love referrals because they cost little if nothing to acquire. We all know most of our best cases come from referrals. People usually don’t refer bad cases. The key is that most lawyers don’t know…
8. Managing Partner | Tech-savvy lawyers are key to law firms’ survival
More than half (56 per cent) of respondents said that technology will have a high impact on law firms in the next three to five years, while a further 41 per cent said it will likely have a moderate impact. Technology will have the highest impact in firms that are “alive to the need to invest in and adopt technology,” remarked the managing partner of a regional UK law firm.
7. Inhouse Blog | Brain Drain in the Legal Profession?
Yes, apparently brain drain can affect law-minded folk even before they start practicing.
6. Accellis | What’s Your Technology Report Card?
Imagine the state of technology at your firm was evaluated or graded on five “subjects” (i.e., math, chemistry, literature). What would those be? In other words, what high-level benchmarks can a firm look at in order to gain a more accurate understanding of their use of technology?
5. Law360 | The 5 Weapons No Litigator Should Be Without
Choosing to practice in the arena of high-stakes corporate litigation can often lead attorneys into protracted disputes where the margin between victory and defeat stands razor-thin. But the most skilled litigators are able to rely on crucial weapons in their legal arsenal to seize the upper hand.
4. Global Legal Post | BigLaw resists techo evolution over fear of losing billable hours
Large US firms with over 350 lawyers are adapting to new IT far more slowly than smaller practices – with poor use of document management systems, only half using document assembly and many still using fax, photocopying and couriers.
3. Wisconsin Lawyer | 10 Golden Rules to Make New Clients Happy
…most clients are unable to appreciate a quality work product because they aren’t lawyers. Consequently, they tend to judge the quality of your work based on service-related issues and how they are treated when they deal with you and your firm.
2. Law Practice Today | The Dawn of the Agile Attorney
Anyone who has followed the tech industry closely over the past 10 years knows that the rise of Agile techniques has significantly improved the way that leading companies manage their projects and deliver their products and services. In 2010, Forrester Research reported that 35 percent of technology companies had adopted Agile methods…
1. Hyperion Research | The Continuing Reality of Transformation for Corporate Legal
Today’s corporations—including the law department—are under a seemingly continuous state of change. Transformation is the ideological approach to deconstructing and reimagining how an organization works.
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